President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov gave an interview to the State News Agency of Turkmenistan upon completing the official visit to Japan.
- Dear Mr. President! You have completed your official visit to Japan today. We know that it has evoked wide response in the mass media. Could you please share your view of the results of the visit?
As for the results of the visit, I expressed my opinion at the briefing in Tokyo that the agreements reached during the visit were of great significance for our two countries. However, I think it is a preliminary estimate, an understanding from the standpoint of today, so to speak.
We will be able to evaluate the scale of the recent events, their significance in the international aspect after some time, when people seen the great things taking place in their life with their own eyes.
If we turn to the recent history, diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and Japan were established over twenty years ago, as you know. Since then, the Japanese side and we slowly but resolutely have been moving forward to the high level of the dialogue that our two countries is having today.
Our partnership was strengthened with every passing year, and the range of cooperation was widened. The official visit to Japan in December 2009 played the role of a catalyst for intensification of the intergovernmental dialogue. The results of that visit, you may remember, were highly evaluated in the mass media.
However, this visit is certainly more productive, and a number of factors contributed to this. These include the fact that the development of our countries in recent years has enabled us to significantly strengthen our position in the world today, and our bilateral relations have moved forward and the mechanism for interstate cooperation has become more flexible.
I would like to mention one more key factor: our Japanese partners have made sure of the economic power of Turkmenistan, the availability of natural resources in our country, the sincerity of our intentions to contribute to building a new architecture of global energy security and our ability to respond to modern threats and stand for peace for the peoples of our planet.
The current progress in Turkmen-Japanese relations should be seen as a logical continuation of the agreements reached in 2009 which require further specification so as to bring our dialogue to a new level. The visit to the Land of the Rising Sun, having specified the vectors of interaction between our two countries, contributed to the success of the talks. In this regard I would like to express gratitude on behalf of the Turkmen people to the Japanese side for such an approach to bilateral cooperation.
As for the talks, I would characterize them as open and very constructive.
They, like the previous talks, showed the coincidence or similarity of our views on major issues of international life. So, the talks spotlighted the high level of mutual understanding between the sides.
As you know, a large package of documents, which significantly strengthen the legal framework of our successfully developing interstate relations, was signed during the visit.
We met with highly esteemed Emperor Akihito. It was our second meeting. I was glad to have an opportunity to meet with him, and I believe that His Majesty shared my feelings.
The Japanese people adore and, I would say, idolize him. I want to emphasize that despite his high rank, Emperor Akihito is a very modest and heartfelt man. He embodies the best qualities of his nation. That’s why he is esteemed so much by the Japanese people.
I do not exaggerate by saying that Emperor Akihito is highly respected in our country as well. Our citizens know that the Japanese people, who are spiritually close to us, embody the best qualities.
We held the meeting as if we were old friends who had not seen each other for a long time.
The meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was very productive. It was held in a businesslike atmosphere and aimed at searching mutually beneficial solutions. We signed the Joint Statement and the bilateral agreements on technical cooperation in the spheres of igh-tech natural gas processing, economy and healthcare after concluding the talks.
The interest of the business circles of Japan in rapidly developing Turkmenistan was quite keen. The meeting with Chairman of Japan Business Federation Hiromasa Yonekura – an influential figure in the world of big business, who was accompanied by the representative group of associates, attested to it.
The forum spotlighted the willingness of the Japanese business community to learn more about the prospects and opportunities that cooperation with our country could open up.
Therefore, I spoke in detail about the domestic policy of our country, which I call the policy of modernization of Turkmenistan, during the meeting which brought together the major figures (leading representatives) of business in Japan. I also noted that the peace-loving foreign policy of our country was an objective necessity of global significance entailed by modern realities.
I also emphasized that Western analysts rightly believed that Turkmenistan, which has abundant hydrocarbon resources and the favourable geographical location, is one of the key players in Central Asia that is now growing into the region with political, energy and other influence.
I focused on the fact that the information on the economy growth rate of our country, which has made up 11 percent for many years, aroused sincere admiration of the forum participants.
And what do investors need? First of all, stability of the country, developed infrastructure and certainly a reliable legal framework that would protect the rights of investors.
Therefore, I dwelt upon these issues at the forum. In particular, I focused on the guarantees provided by our national legislation, which is currently being improved to meet the standards of international law, to investors.
It concerns the visa system and unhampered stay in our country, the opportunity to use revenues and profits in Turkmenistan and transfer them beyond, protection of intellectual property rights, the return on foreign investment due to the termination of investment activity, access to information and other guarantees of legal protection of foreign investors and enterprises with foreign investment.
I also covered many other themes during the meeting with the representatives of the business circles in Japan, and emphasized that the modern efficient model of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation had established between two our countries.
I'm fully satisfied with the fact that the Turkmen-Japanese forum have demonstrated the aspiration of our con tries for the full-scale partnership.
I was pleased with the interest expressed by the Japanese businessmen in cooperating with our rapidly developing class of entrepreneurs. Within the last years, Turkmen businessmen have taken an active part in implementation of large-scale projects.
The businessmen in our two countries have different starting conditions - leading Japanese companies have worked in the business environment for dozens and even hundreds of years, Turkmen entrepreneurs, as compare to their foreign colleagues, have just started their business activity but have already won the deep respect among their foreign colleagues due to the high paces of development.
I mentioned the following indexes: the share of the private sector in the gross domestic product of the country makes up 40 percent at present. According to our forecast, the index will increase almost twice in seven years.
All necessary conditions including the Law of Turkmenistan "On the state support to the small and medium entrepreneurship", which provides a number of benefits for private business, are created in our country to achieve the increase.
I underlined the fact that the state had entrusted the Turkmen entrepreneurs with a large-scale project - the 13th turn of construction of the Turkmen capital. Our businessmen told about it to their Japanese colleagues with especial pride. As is known, the 13th turn envisages development of the business and cultural centre in the Turkmen capital.
Turkmen businessmen have proved themselves as highly-qualified specialists in such spheres as construction, industry, agriculture as well as other sectors. Their efficient work done within the last year resulted in establishment of a new political party - the Party of Entrepreneurs. Turkmen businessmen opened their own bank, delegate their representatives to the National Parliament and local authorities and issue the newspaper. The goods produced by Turkmen entrepreneurs proved its competitiveness to their analogues manufactured abroad. This fact motivated Japanese businessmen to establish relations with Turkmen entrepreneurs.
With special proud I noted that Turkmen entrepreneurs jointly with the Japanese businessmen would work not only in our country but in Japan as well.
Another interesting issue is cooperation in the sphere of tourism.
Turkmenistan possesses the unique tourist potential. Our country has the blue sea, one of the largest deserts in the world, high mountains and plains covered with young forests, healing sources and modern sanatoriums, the ancient historical monuments and masterpieces of the modern architecture which are included into the Guinness Word Records.
In other words, our country has a wide spectrum of opportunities for development of various types of tourism.
The Turkmen Governmental delegation visited the Tourist Exhibition in Tokyo, where the work of the Turkmen tour operators was widely presented. The project of the Syyahat new specialized web-site was showcased there among the other exhibits, which are aimed at popularizing the Turkmen national tourism. It was symbolic that the presentation of the new web-site dedicated to the Turkmen tourism took place in Japan, the Motherland of digital technologies.
During the visit we were lucky to be the first on behalf of the Turkmen people to congratulate the citizens of Japan on the election of Tokyo the venue for the 2020 Olympic Games. I also mentioned that in 2017 Ashgabat would host the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. Thus, sport is another prospective area of the Turkmen-Japanese cooperation.
I am deeply convinced of the fact that the agreements achieved and documents adopted during the visit will bring the Turkmen-Japanese relations to the qualitatively new level that will contribute to implementation of the huge potential of cooperation in various spheres, including the trade and economy, industrial, cultural, scientific and other areas.
… The Chairman of the Turkmenhovayollary State National Service M. Ayazov reported to the President of Turkmenistan.
AYAZOV: Dear President of Turkmenistan! I' d like to inform you that upon completion of Your official visit to Japan, the aircraft Boeing-777 on the route Tokyo-Ashgabat entered the airspace of Turkmenistan!
PRESIDENT OF TURKMENISTAN: I congratulate you on returning back home and wish you every success in your work!
Then the Chairman of the State News Agency of Turkmenistan asked the Turkmen leader:
- Dear Mr. President, in conclusion of our meeting, I would like to answer a personal question. We heard that you are working on a new book. Could you please briefly tell us about your new work.
- Yes, indeed, I am working on the new book dedicated to my childhood, those wonderful lessons of life I received when I was a child, those outstanding people I was lucky to meet in my life - kind, honest, respectable and real patriots of their Motherland…
I have very bright memories about my childhood. They help, inspire, let me believe in pure intentions and sincere friendship. Therefore, I would like to share them with the readers. However, I won't retell the contests of the future book.
The plot of the new book consists of the events that take place in the life. I would like to underline that my father Myalikguly Berdimuhamedov helps me much in this regard. I always ask his advice in the most important life situations. I will always be grateful to him for his help as the father and mentor as well.
I have very good opportunities for my creative work - I do a lot of useful things in this regard during the hours-long flights. During the ten-hour flight from Tokyo, I worked on a new chapter of my book, which I will present to my people soon.
- Dear Mr. President! Let us congratulate You on completion of the official visit to Japan and wish You great success in Your state, scientific and creative activity. We, numerous readers in Turkmenistan, will look forward to Your new book.
- Dear Mr. President! You have completed your official visit to Japan today. We know that it has evoked wide response in the mass media. Could you please share your view of the results of the visit?
As for the results of the visit, I expressed my opinion at the briefing in Tokyo that the agreements reached during the visit were of great significance for our two countries. However, I think it is a preliminary estimate, an understanding from the standpoint of today, so to speak.
We will be able to evaluate the scale of the recent events, their significance in the international aspect after some time, when people seen the great things taking place in their life with their own eyes.
If we turn to the recent history, diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and Japan were established over twenty years ago, as you know. Since then, the Japanese side and we slowly but resolutely have been moving forward to the high level of the dialogue that our two countries is having today.
Our partnership was strengthened with every passing year, and the range of cooperation was widened. The official visit to Japan in December 2009 played the role of a catalyst for intensification of the intergovernmental dialogue. The results of that visit, you may remember, were highly evaluated in the mass media.
However, this visit is certainly more productive, and a number of factors contributed to this. These include the fact that the development of our countries in recent years has enabled us to significantly strengthen our position in the world today, and our bilateral relations have moved forward and the mechanism for interstate cooperation has become more flexible.
I would like to mention one more key factor: our Japanese partners have made sure of the economic power of Turkmenistan, the availability of natural resources in our country, the sincerity of our intentions to contribute to building a new architecture of global energy security and our ability to respond to modern threats and stand for peace for the peoples of our planet.
The current progress in Turkmen-Japanese relations should be seen as a logical continuation of the agreements reached in 2009 which require further specification so as to bring our dialogue to a new level. The visit to the Land of the Rising Sun, having specified the vectors of interaction between our two countries, contributed to the success of the talks. In this regard I would like to express gratitude on behalf of the Turkmen people to the Japanese side for such an approach to bilateral cooperation.
As for the talks, I would characterize them as open and very constructive.
They, like the previous talks, showed the coincidence or similarity of our views on major issues of international life. So, the talks spotlighted the high level of mutual understanding between the sides.
As you know, a large package of documents, which significantly strengthen the legal framework of our successfully developing interstate relations, was signed during the visit.
We met with highly esteemed Emperor Akihito. It was our second meeting. I was glad to have an opportunity to meet with him, and I believe that His Majesty shared my feelings.
The Japanese people adore and, I would say, idolize him. I want to emphasize that despite his high rank, Emperor Akihito is a very modest and heartfelt man. He embodies the best qualities of his nation. That’s why he is esteemed so much by the Japanese people.
I do not exaggerate by saying that Emperor Akihito is highly respected in our country as well. Our citizens know that the Japanese people, who are spiritually close to us, embody the best qualities.
We held the meeting as if we were old friends who had not seen each other for a long time.
The meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was very productive. It was held in a businesslike atmosphere and aimed at searching mutually beneficial solutions. We signed the Joint Statement and the bilateral agreements on technical cooperation in the spheres of igh-tech natural gas processing, economy and healthcare after concluding the talks.
The interest of the business circles of Japan in rapidly developing Turkmenistan was quite keen. The meeting with Chairman of Japan Business Federation Hiromasa Yonekura – an influential figure in the world of big business, who was accompanied by the representative group of associates, attested to it.
The forum spotlighted the willingness of the Japanese business community to learn more about the prospects and opportunities that cooperation with our country could open up.
Therefore, I spoke in detail about the domestic policy of our country, which I call the policy of modernization of Turkmenistan, during the meeting which brought together the major figures (leading representatives) of business in Japan. I also noted that the peace-loving foreign policy of our country was an objective necessity of global significance entailed by modern realities.
I also emphasized that Western analysts rightly believed that Turkmenistan, which has abundant hydrocarbon resources and the favourable geographical location, is one of the key players in Central Asia that is now growing into the region with political, energy and other influence.
I focused on the fact that the information on the economy growth rate of our country, which has made up 11 percent for many years, aroused sincere admiration of the forum participants.
And what do investors need? First of all, stability of the country, developed infrastructure and certainly a reliable legal framework that would protect the rights of investors.
Therefore, I dwelt upon these issues at the forum. In particular, I focused on the guarantees provided by our national legislation, which is currently being improved to meet the standards of international law, to investors.
It concerns the visa system and unhampered stay in our country, the opportunity to use revenues and profits in Turkmenistan and transfer them beyond, protection of intellectual property rights, the return on foreign investment due to the termination of investment activity, access to information and other guarantees of legal protection of foreign investors and enterprises with foreign investment.
I also covered many other themes during the meeting with the representatives of the business circles in Japan, and emphasized that the modern efficient model of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation had established between two our countries.
I'm fully satisfied with the fact that the Turkmen-Japanese forum have demonstrated the aspiration of our con tries for the full-scale partnership.
I was pleased with the interest expressed by the Japanese businessmen in cooperating with our rapidly developing class of entrepreneurs. Within the last years, Turkmen businessmen have taken an active part in implementation of large-scale projects.
The businessmen in our two countries have different starting conditions - leading Japanese companies have worked in the business environment for dozens and even hundreds of years, Turkmen entrepreneurs, as compare to their foreign colleagues, have just started their business activity but have already won the deep respect among their foreign colleagues due to the high paces of development.
I mentioned the following indexes: the share of the private sector in the gross domestic product of the country makes up 40 percent at present. According to our forecast, the index will increase almost twice in seven years.
All necessary conditions including the Law of Turkmenistan "On the state support to the small and medium entrepreneurship", which provides a number of benefits for private business, are created in our country to achieve the increase.
I underlined the fact that the state had entrusted the Turkmen entrepreneurs with a large-scale project - the 13th turn of construction of the Turkmen capital. Our businessmen told about it to their Japanese colleagues with especial pride. As is known, the 13th turn envisages development of the business and cultural centre in the Turkmen capital.
Turkmen businessmen have proved themselves as highly-qualified specialists in such spheres as construction, industry, agriculture as well as other sectors. Their efficient work done within the last year resulted in establishment of a new political party - the Party of Entrepreneurs. Turkmen businessmen opened their own bank, delegate their representatives to the National Parliament and local authorities and issue the newspaper. The goods produced by Turkmen entrepreneurs proved its competitiveness to their analogues manufactured abroad. This fact motivated Japanese businessmen to establish relations with Turkmen entrepreneurs.
With special proud I noted that Turkmen entrepreneurs jointly with the Japanese businessmen would work not only in our country but in Japan as well.
Another interesting issue is cooperation in the sphere of tourism.
Turkmenistan possesses the unique tourist potential. Our country has the blue sea, one of the largest deserts in the world, high mountains and plains covered with young forests, healing sources and modern sanatoriums, the ancient historical monuments and masterpieces of the modern architecture which are included into the Guinness Word Records.
In other words, our country has a wide spectrum of opportunities for development of various types of tourism.
The Turkmen Governmental delegation visited the Tourist Exhibition in Tokyo, where the work of the Turkmen tour operators was widely presented. The project of the Syyahat new specialized web-site was showcased there among the other exhibits, which are aimed at popularizing the Turkmen national tourism. It was symbolic that the presentation of the new web-site dedicated to the Turkmen tourism took place in Japan, the Motherland of digital technologies.
During the visit we were lucky to be the first on behalf of the Turkmen people to congratulate the citizens of Japan on the election of Tokyo the venue for the 2020 Olympic Games. I also mentioned that in 2017 Ashgabat would host the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. Thus, sport is another prospective area of the Turkmen-Japanese cooperation.
I am deeply convinced of the fact that the agreements achieved and documents adopted during the visit will bring the Turkmen-Japanese relations to the qualitatively new level that will contribute to implementation of the huge potential of cooperation in various spheres, including the trade and economy, industrial, cultural, scientific and other areas.
… The Chairman of the Turkmenhovayollary State National Service M. Ayazov reported to the President of Turkmenistan.
AYAZOV: Dear President of Turkmenistan! I' d like to inform you that upon completion of Your official visit to Japan, the aircraft Boeing-777 on the route Tokyo-Ashgabat entered the airspace of Turkmenistan!
PRESIDENT OF TURKMENISTAN: I congratulate you on returning back home and wish you every success in your work!
Then the Chairman of the State News Agency of Turkmenistan asked the Turkmen leader:
- Dear Mr. President, in conclusion of our meeting, I would like to answer a personal question. We heard that you are working on a new book. Could you please briefly tell us about your new work.
- Yes, indeed, I am working on the new book dedicated to my childhood, those wonderful lessons of life I received when I was a child, those outstanding people I was lucky to meet in my life - kind, honest, respectable and real patriots of their Motherland…
I have very bright memories about my childhood. They help, inspire, let me believe in pure intentions and sincere friendship. Therefore, I would like to share them with the readers. However, I won't retell the contests of the future book.
The plot of the new book consists of the events that take place in the life. I would like to underline that my father Myalikguly Berdimuhamedov helps me much in this regard. I always ask his advice in the most important life situations. I will always be grateful to him for his help as the father and mentor as well.
I have very good opportunities for my creative work - I do a lot of useful things in this regard during the hours-long flights. During the ten-hour flight from Tokyo, I worked on a new chapter of my book, which I will present to my people soon.
- Dear Mr. President! Let us congratulate You on completion of the official visit to Japan and wish You great success in Your state, scientific and creative activity. We, numerous readers in Turkmenistan, will look forward to Your new book.